U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,957 to Chyz et al discloses a tripot-type universal joint having a drive shaft and a spider splined to the shaft and carrying a set of three rollers disposed within axial channels of an outer drive housing and retained against removal by an annular spring retainer wire. The wire retainer is mounted within an internal retention groove in the housing. As one or more of the tripot rollers approach the open end of the guide channels, they contact the retaining spring and can cause it to deflect axially outwardly if severely loaded.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,083,202 to Westercamp and U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,404 to Sutton et al disclose stroking constant velocity universal joints in which the inner rollers are retained in the outer drive housing by an external can or sleeve crimped about the exterior of the drive housing and having an end flange extending across the end face of the open end of the housing and then turned inwardly projecting into the roller channels. The inwardly directed portions of the '404 joint assembly serve to align the can with the drive housing and prevent relative circumferential movement therebetween, but do not interfere per se with the travel of the rollers. Retention relies instead on radially inwardly extending contoured portions which, like the spring retainer, are confronted by the rollers and susceptible to axial outward flexing under extreme loading. The projecting portions of the outer can of the '202 joint assembly lie in the path of the rollers and wedge between the rollers and their channels to limit the outward stroke of the rollers toward the open end of the housing. The outer can configuration of the '202 retainer is required to close the radially open roller channels of the drive housing.